Dangerous. Ineffective. Unnecessary. That’s how leading medical and mental health experts describe so-called conversion therapy, which practitioners claim can force a change in a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

Conversion therapy is based on the false and hateful assumption that being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) is a defect or disorder that needs curing. It’s rooted in anti-gay and anti-transgender bigotry, based on junk science, and is harmful to LGBT people and their families.

Some states have banned conversion therapy for minors,1 but the practice is dangerous for anyone who is subjected to it, and it should be completely banned at the national level. Last month, four members of Congress asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ban conversion therapy as a fraudulent practice that harms the people it claims to be helping.2 Can you add your voice to their call?

Tell the FTC: Ban conversion therapy.

Conversion therapy has been discredited by nearly every major medical, psychological, psychiatric, social work, and professional counseling organization in the country. It’s based on hateful junk science and uses controversial practices like “violent role play, reenactment of past abuses, and exercises involving nudity and intimate touching.”3 People who undergo conversion therapy have been found to be at higher risk of depression, alienation from family, anxiety and suicide. Children forced to go through the therapy are at even higher risk.4

Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center successfully sued a company performing conversion therapy in New Jersey for consumer fraud for offering fraudulent and unconscionable services it claimed could change clients from gay to straight. The judge in the trial blocked conversion therapy “experts” from testifying because their opinions were based on the assumption that being gay is a disorder. It was a landmark ruling that highlighted just how dangerous this “therapy” can be.

Sens. Patty Murray and Cory Booker, together with Reps. Ted Lieu and Jackie Speier, are calling on the FTC to ban conversion therapy. The more people who speak out, the more powerful their message will be.